How to segment a larger plot? Switchgrass for bedding?

[nrowles]

I have a 2 acre "finger" coming off the northeast edge of my property. I have 15 acres total. I feel the need to open up a bit of land and not feel so claustrophobic. Since I was advised that opening up a couple acres within my core was a bad idea I am considering clearing about 1 1/4 acre in the center of my 2 acre finger. If I decide I want to do this and segment the larger opening into some smaller plots what could I use? Switchgrass, blackberry, wild plum, dwarf chinkain oak, ???. I was thinking about 1/4 acre total of something segmenting leaving about an acre of a few different plots. I'm in central Pennsylvania. I am completely surrounded by many different types of woods. Jack pine, 15 yr old natural growth, mature woods. I suppose I am thinking of segmenting it so the deer feel more secure for daylight use and also I may be able to use for segmenting a bush or something else the deer would like to browse on.

Also, do you think deer would bed in switchgrass? I read online they will, but tend not to in areas with predators since they cannot see far when bedded in it. We have lots of bear, coyote, bobcat so if that online statement is correct I suppose that would be out for me.

 

[Freeborn]

I have prairie grass on my place and the largest area is about 40 acres. Deer bed in Prairie grass all the time and use their nose to detect predators that approach them. In general predators don't like prairie grass as it has little to no edge so they don't care to wander in the middle of it. Your working with some very small areas so animals are going to relate to it differently than mine.

Do you have any food plots on your place? What are you trying to achieve with the smaller plots?

 

[nrowles]

I was trying to keep my questions more towards generalizations at this point but below is my current plan. This is subject to change. Just what the thought is at the moment. I posted a thread on here a month ago about opening a couple acres in the center of my property and the general consensus was that was a bad idea for deer hunting given my situation. Goals are to try and create better deer and turkey hunting as well as a hobby of planting/plots/habitat. I also just want to have some open area, which is what the thought was in my original post. The only open area I have is where my house is. The ideal property for me would be obviously larger with a mix of open field and woods, but that is not what I have.

The finger I speak of is to the north. I really have no set plan for this clearing yet. I even thought of planting a 1/4 acre block of switchgrass there just to see if the deer use it. This could be somewhat of a testing location that I wouldn't get too worried about things failing. Area where I could have campfires, etc.

The red is going to get cleared so we have a view from the house. I am thinking of planting yard, crabapples, people fruit trees, blackberry, etc. for both deer and human consumption.

The blue is the most "open" woods I have. The pine are more mature and spread out with some hardwoods mixed in. I want to thin around the existing hardwoods and clear some canopy.

The white is where the property is "rowed" up. I want to start thinning this out to get some natural growth. It may just be a tornado zone for a few years.

The small green to the west is a small 1/10th acre clearing I have already made. Then there is the U-Plot with a windrow of trees around the edges. A treestand on the north side of the U-Plot would give me an opprtunity on almost any deer that comes to the plot or passes the plot on the north side.

The area between the house and the plots to the west is EXTREMELY thick with 1-4" pine trees clumped together. Hard to walk through.

 

[Tap]

Also, do you think deer would bed in switchgrass? I read online they will, but tend not to in areas with predators since they cannot see far when bedded in it. We have lots of bear, coyote, bobcat so if that online statement is correct I suppose that would be out for me.

I have a quarter acre of switchgrass right at the edge of my back yard. It used to be part of a larger 3 acre clover plot but the deer were turning that part to mud from constant hoof traffic, so I panted the quarter acre in switch. It's been fawning cover for a couple years now. Most of the bedding activity in it is during June to August. Does like privacy during that period and I think this same alpha doe has claimed it.
That switch has also screened the rest of the existing plot from the house. Deer seem to be more comfortable in the clover during the daylight.
I assume deer are bedding in that thick area to the West of the house and if you put a stand on the North edge of the "U" plot, you'll need to be careful about your odor blowing into that thicket during West or North winds.

Also, I would not plant a plot in that North finger without establishing screening along that road. Something nasty and thick to keep out the drive-by invaders and spotlighters.

How heavy is the hunting pressure around you? If it's like most of Pa, the best thing you can do to improve the hunting on your property is to stay the heck out of it as much as possible. Privacy, sanctuaries and cover will do more for you than food plots. It's an extremely rare 15 acres that can be hunted on any regular basis without educating deer that they are being hunted. I only have 31 acres, and it has lots of deer activity because I rarely hunt it. Very few properties of our size can take the pressure. I consider 95% of my acreage as a sanctuary and only hunt the fringes and I only do so when conditions are right.

 

[nrowles]

If I clear that finger, I may plant an end in switchgrass just to see how the deer use it. Or maybe put it in the middle to break up the larger opening.

I have found some beds between the house and the plots I have mapped, so yes I will have to be careful with wind direction.

Already had the same thought on the screening. I was going to leave about 20' of trees (very thick) and the trees cleared are also going to be windrowed against the edge of that. No way anybody is seeing in.

There is hunting pressure around me, but from what I can tell it is a few hunters on large tracts. It's not like public land where 25 hunters are scattered around on the first day. I'm really not sure what clearing that finger would do for deer hunting. I just need some open space. If the deer don't use it I will make it a family recreational area or something. I do want to have a couple smaller plots for hobby though.

 

[yoderjac]

I have a 2 acre "finger" coming off the northeast edge of my property. I have 15 acres total. I feel the need to open up a bit of land and not feel so claustrophobic. Since I was advised that opening up a couple acres within my core was a bad idea I am considering clearing about 1 1/4 acre in the center of my 2 acre finger. If I decide I want to do this and segment the larger opening into some smaller plots what could I use? Switchgrass, blackberry, wild plum, dwarf chinkain oak, ???. I was thinking about 1/4 acre total of something segmenting leaving about an acre of a few different plots. I'm in central Pennsylvania. I am completely surrounded by many different types of woods. Jack pine, 15 yr old natural growth, mature woods. I suppose I am thinking of segmenting it so the deer feel more secure for daylight use and also I may be able to use for segmenting a bush or something else the deer would like to browse on.

Also, do you think deer would bed in switchgrass? I read online they will, but tend not to in areas with predators since they cannot see far when bedded in it. We have lots of bear, coyote, bobcat so if that online statement is correct I suppose that would be out for me.

If the pines across that road are beginning to canopy, I suspect your 2 acre finger is a likely bedding area now. If you clear any of it you will lose that bedding. If you are planting quality food (apples or whatever) in the red area, when there are no acorns, you may be able to catch deer moving from the finger bedding to that food along the edge of the pines. When acorns fall, there isn't much you will be able to do.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[alldaysit]

I would pick a descent little spot and plant it on that finger. See that it works and expand in the future. Make sure it's a spot you can't see from the road EVER if you can, and a spot you can kill deer in from a stand location. If you cut an access trail to the plot from somewhere, keep the entrance to the plot within bow range. That's one mistake I've made. The deer come into my clover plot at 70 yards when they come down the connecting trail from my other plot. I could have cut it with the brush cutter to come in at 30, I just didn't know to do that before.

I have four acres here at home and a tiny home food plot that I wish I could make bigger. It's 30 feet wide and 120 feet long. I run a camera on it for fun. Each year I keep getting bigger and bigger bucks.


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